Mike Nugnes has little critical to say about his BHS boys hockey team six games into the season. But he does find the team's .500 record surprising. "Did I think we would be 3-3-1 at this point?" Nugnes said this week. "No." Yet that was the Raiders' record after they lost a 3-1 decision to a very good Marshfield squad at Kennedy Rink in Hyannis last Saturday.

Nugnes said he hadn't expected the team to absorb non-league losses to Dennis-Yarmouth or to North Quincy.

The problem? Putting the puck in the net.

A full month after the Raiders opened the season with a 3-2 home loss to D-Y, Nugnes still sounded incredulous that Barnstable could have outshot the Dolphins 22-0 in the third period without finding a way to win the game, or at least tie it.

"Even the games we've won, it's not clicking for us offensively," Nugnes said.

"We're doing everything well," the coach said, considering different aspects of the game one by one. Style of play? "Excellent." Coverage? "Great." Creating scoring opportunities? If that 22-0 period against D-Y isn't proof enough, look at the Marshfield game. The visitors outshot Barnstable 23-19, but in the more inclusive - and more meaningful - category of scoring chances, Barnstable had a decided edge.

Nugnes thought the Raiders created enough quality scoring opportunities that they "easily" could have scored three or four times.

The two teams traded first-period power-play goals, but Marshfield took the lead for good with a tally in the second period, and added an empty-net score with 13 seconds to play..

The winning goal came on a chance Raiders netminder Luke Harris stops 100 times out of 100. But this must have been number 101: the puck took a funny bounce and Harris could only get a piece of it, not a big enough piece to keep it out of the net.

"He's the best goalie around right now," Nugnes said, noting the junior's sound fundamentals and his two shutouts. "He's always in position. He works real hard in the off-season."

Senior David Burlingame scored the Raiders' goal, with assists going to freshmen Mike Donoghue and George DeMello.

As a group, the defensemen are playing solid hockey, Nugnes said. "(Senior) Danny Silva's playing really well."

Donoghue and DeMello are among the underclassmen who have seen more action than expected due to injuries on the team. The played only on the power play Saturday.

"The young kids have filled in nicely," Nugnes said.

The coach said it is worth noting that the Raiders have suffered all three of their losses at home, where the larger-than-usual ice surface provides room for the most skilled players to operate out of the reach of defenders who have more space to cover.